It’s only recently, since I’ve slowed down to finally understand how to write CakePHP Components, that I’ve realized that DRY enhances GTD. Now that I’ve got it all straight in my head, I’m a component evangelist.

At this point I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with MCV architecture and its benefits. Once in a while there’s a bit of logic that you find yourself coding into a controller that you realize you’re going to want to use in other controllers. It’s not specific to the model. That’s where components come in. They’re bits of logic that can be used by more than one controller. Let’s look at a simple one that converts mm/dd/yyyy dates to a Unix timestamp.

<?php
 
class DateComponent extends Object {
 
	function mkTimestamp($sentdate, $senttime){
 
		$thedate = explode('/', $sentdate);
 
		if(!empty($senttime)){
 
			$thetime = explode(':', $senttime);
			$newdate = mktime($thetime[0],$thetime[1],0,$thedate[0],$thedate[1],$thedate[2]);
 
		} else {
 
			$newdate = mktime(0,0,0,$thedate[0],$thedate[1],$thedate[2]);
 
		}
 
		return $newdate;
 
	}
 
}
?>

The function itself is not all that complicated. The thing is that I’m going to want to use this where ever I need to convert dates. Since the component is called “Date”, it’s named with the CakePHP convention for components: DateComponent. The file is called date.php and is saved in app/controllers/components.

Now we have to tell our controller(s) to use it. I’m using it across several controllers, so I’m adding it to app/app_controller.php by adding it to the $components var: var $components = array('Date');

Now I can access it in any controller like so: $tmsmp = $this->Date->mkTimestamp($thedate, $thetime);

The whole point is that components don’t have to be complex, they’re just code you want to reuse that doesn’t necessary apply to one model. They will save you time and clean up your controllers.Similar Posts:

• Roll Your Own CakePHP Components
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• Use Functions from Other Controllers While Maintaining MVC Architecture in CakePHP
• CakePHP: Containable Behavior is Your Friend